


The Ring

by CharlotteGlen



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Death, F/M, Grief/Mourning, after season 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-11
Updated: 2014-10-11
Packaged: 2018-02-20 17:16:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2436617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharlotteGlen/pseuds/CharlotteGlen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Wally's death Artemis has to clean out their apartment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ring

**Author's Note:**

> Hey so this is pretty sad and I am sorry but this is how I feel like Artemis would deal right after Wally died.

Artemis was broken. The day Wally had died had been the worst day of her life. It had shattered her mind body and soul. Everything in her world was shades of grey. She hadn’t been able to return to the apartment they had shared because it was so empty, instead she had stayed with Mary and Rudy. They comforted each other in their grief and every night Artemis wrapped herself in Wally’s childhood blanket and cried herself to sleep. She knew that Mary often went into Wally’s old room during the day and would just stroke his pillow, remembering how her son had once been so full of life and promise. It broke Artemis’s heart to see his mother grieving for her child, just like her mother had after she had faked her death. She wished it was the same, that Wally was on an undercover mission that was so important that even his parents couldn’t know he was alive. She wished he was wearing a pendant that disguised him from her because then at least one day he would come back to her, but no matter how much she wished it, it would never be true.

To Artemis, the true sign that Wally was gone was not the tears in Mary’s eyes or the silence in the house, but how empty the fridge was. There was a time when the house had been overflowing with food that wouldn’t last twentyfour hours before finding its way into the stomach of the growing speedster, but now people were throwing away dishes that had spoiled, something new to the West household. It was the stale food that finally drove Artemis home. She couldn’t bare the tears that poured down her face as she scraped a plate into the garbage. She knew that the tears would keep coming until she began to allow herself to heal, and the first step was going home. She needed to go through all of Wally’s things. She would keep his shirts and sweaters, his costume would go to the team, his books to charity, but there were other things. Mary would want some of his things too. It would be hard, but Artemis knew she was the only one that could do it.

Mary begged Artemis to let her come, she said she didn’t want her to go through it alone, but Artemis refused. Finally she relented to let Mary come after the bulk had been sorted through and she had divided up the obvious keepsakes and donations. So that was how Artemis found herself alone on the bed that had once been hers and Wally’s. It was so cold now. a thin layer of dust had settled over it. Artemis wanted to throw up, maybe she should have asked Dick to come, after all he was Wally’s best friend. The thought quickly vanished as she began her cleaning. She couldn’t stop crying, and she knew that if Dick were here he would have no idea what to do and it would be more painful for the both of them. Every time she saw something of Wally’s it brought back a memory, happy, sad, all of them had the same effect, Artemis’s heart breaking into a thousand pieces. The flash bunny slippers she had bought him for christmas as a joke, the CD’s that were never in the right cases and had always irritated her, the collection of superhero t shirts that Wally thought were hilarious, all of them made her want to punch a wall or throw herself onto the bed and cry, she couldn’t decide.

It was the longest day of her life, but finally she had divided it all up. The super tees would go to their counterparts, she knew the members of the team would appreciate it. His books would be donated to the Central City library. His entire life was being divided and given away to strangers and friends. The strangers would never appreciate what he had done so that they could have something to read, and the hero’s would never appreciate what she had lost so that they could have something to remember their friend by. Artemis wanted to scream how unfair it was that all she had to remember the love of her life was tee shirts that would eventually stop smelling like him, pictures that would break her heart, and memories that would fade and change with time. She didn’t know how she would ever be happy again.

Mary came and went. They cried, then Mary took the donations away. Artemis did one last sweep of the house. It was then that she noticed something she had missed earlier. Wally’s desk drawer had a false bottom. It wasn’t much, and Artemis doubted that Wally had put anything of value in there, but in the case that there was something in there that was his she had to know. She popped it open easily, she was a superhero after all, and found two things. One was a small orb, a hologram projector, and the other was a small box. Artemis decided to start with the orb, it seemed like the thing Wally would expect her to do. She was right too, because as soon as she activated it and image of wally appeared in front of her.

“Hey Babe, if you are seeing this than I am probably dead or something. I’m so sorry. I know you would be so mad at me for making this, so I didn’t tell you but we are superheroes, even if we are retired, so better safe than sorry, right? I am going to use this to tell you something important, now I need you to listen closely: I love you. If I died in the line of duty, know that it wasn’t because I didn’t want to be here anymore, because I would give anything to stay with you forever, but it was because I wanted to create a world where you could live a happy and peaceful life. I am so sorry, but know I didn’t leave you alone. You have family, both mine and yours. I know you have issues with your sister, but you love each other, and you have a nice, and your mom. Don’t give up on them. You also have friends. Both the Justice League and the Team will support you. I love you babe, but you will have to move on. Please don’t stay alone forever, because I want you to be happy and if you can’t be happy with me, than I want you to find it again. I love you Artemis.” And with those last words hanging in the air, the projection blinked off. Tears streamed down the archer’s face. How could she move on? Wally had asked her to do the impossible, and she was sure he had known it, which is why he had asked her to do it. His voice still ringing in her ears, Artemis opened the small wooden box. Inside was another smaller box and a sheet of paper. She picked up the sheet of paper and began to read.

“Artemis; you might not know this, but you were named after the greek goddess of the moon and the virgin huntress. Well you are my moon and goddess. You have always pulled me towards you, from the moment we met I felt something so powerful I had no idea how to react. Now I know that there was only ever one thing that I could have done, fall in love. I see a life with you. I see a future. I see so many possibilities, so many paths, and the one thing they have in common is that we are together. I want to take those paths, I want to walk slowly and deliberately down them, hand in hand. I don’t want to race through life, trying to experience every path, anymore. I love you, Artemis.” Tears dripped off of her nose, smearing the ink on the paper. Quickly Arty wiped her eyes, pushing away the declaration of love that had only helped to confuse her. She reached towards the small box, subconsciously knowing what she would find within. As she lifted the lid, she choked out a sob. Inside was a ring. A small green gem set on a silver band stared up at her. She pulled it out gently, inspecting it from all sides. As she turned it over in her hands she noticed an inscription within the band. My Spitfire. Artemis snapped the box closed as she slipped the ring onto her finger.

“I’m so sorry Wally, but I am not moving on. You were my one. I will try to be happy again, but I will never be with anyone else.” Her voice echoed around the room as she lay back onto her bed. It was weird, but as she closed her eyes, she could almost feel Wally’s arms wrapped around her. A sad smile crept across as her face as she fell into a dreamless sleep. 


End file.
